U.S. Soccer Defeats Chile 3-0 In Front of Massive Pro-American Crowd, Advances To Knockout Round

By  //  June 16, 2019

Satellite's Ashlyn Harris did not play

ABOVE VIDEO: Highlights from United States victory over Chile in the  2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup. (FOX Soccer Video)

PARIS, FRANCE – The U.S. Women’s National Team continued its 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup campaign with a dominant 3-0 victory against Chile in front of wildly pro-American crowd of 45,594 fans at Parc des Princes.

In a record-breaking performance, forward Carli Lloyd notched two goals to become the first player in tournament history to score in six consecutive games.

Midfielder Julie Ertz also scored for the U.S. while 20-year-old defender Tierna Davidson, the youngest U.S. player to start a World Cup match since 1995, picked up two assists, both off corner kicks.

In the day’s other Group F match, Sweden defeated Thailand 5-1 in Nice. The USA (2-0-0; 6 points) currently tops the group due to a super goal difference, followed by Sweden (2-0-0; 6 points), Chile (0-2-0; 0 points) and Thailand (0-2-0; 0 points).

The U.S. Women’s National Team continued its 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup campaign with a dominant 3-0 victory against Chile in front of wildly pro-American crowd of 45,594 fans at Parc des Princes. (US Soccer Image)

U.S. head coach Jill Ellis made seven changes from the starting lineup against Thailand on June 11, as defenders Becky Sauerbrunn, Tierna Davidson and Ali Krieger, midfielder Morgan Brian, and forwards Christen Press, Lloyd and Mallory Pugh all earned their first starts of this World Cup.

In another energetic performance, the U.S. controlled the match from the opening kick and by the fourth minute had already taken three shots. One of those shots—by Lloyd—pinballed off the post before Chile goalkeeper Christiane Endler was able to stretch out a glove at the last moment to keep the ball from rolling over the line.

The U.S. kept the pressure up and was rewarded in the 11th minute when a poor clearance by a Chilean defender to the top of the box fell perfectly for Lloyd to send a brilliant half-volley screaming into the right side of the net.

Five minutes later, Ertz doubled the USA’s lead. Davidson whipped a corner kick from the right side toward the near post where Ertz sent an athletic header on frame that was too hot to handle for Endler. She got both hands to the shot but couldn’t keep it out of the net. Another corner from Davidson in the 35th minute into the heart of the box met Lloyd’s perfectly timed run and allowed her to smash a header down and into the left side of the net past a screened Endler.

After once again leading 3-0 at the break, as it did in the first match against Thailand, the USA came out in the second half and put together numerous dangerous attacks, several of which were thwarted by world class stops for Endler, who earned Player of the Match honors.

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The introduction of forward Jessica McDonald at half, midfielder Allie Long in the 59th minute and defender Emily Sonnett in the 82nd minute meant that U.S. head coach Jill Ellis has played all 20 of her field players through the first two matches.

Endler was the main reason the USA did not add another goal, thwarting a relentless U.S. attack with incredible saves to deny Lindsey Horan and, on three separate occasions, Christen Press. She also had the help of the woodwork as McDonald curled a shot onto the far post and Lloyd looped a header onto the crossbar all within the first half hour of the second half.

A missed penalty kick by Lloyd in the 81st minute, awarded after a VAR review when Horan was hauled down at the top of the penalty, did little to dampen the celebratory mood as the USA booked its place in the knockout round with the victory in which it out-shot Chile 25-1.

Satellite’s Ashlyn Harris did not play in the matchup.

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